More and more people who find they are the owner of a useless vehicle simply leave it on the side of the road and walk away.

The number of abandoned cars towed away by city council workers has more than quadrupled over the past five years.

In the financial year from 1996 to 1997, Coventry City Council's street services staff took away 257 abandoned cars. By the end of this financial year they expect to have towed away 1,300.

Breaks down

Street services manager John Wellman, who is in charge of a team of street inspectors dealing with the problem, said: "People meet someone in the pub who offers to sell them a car for about #50, generally with a couple of months tax and MOT.

"They buy it, drive it for a couple of weeks, then it breaks down and they can't repair it, so they just leave it on the side of the road.

"When we ring the registered owner they say it doesn't belong to them and they sold it in the pub a few weeks ago."

He says people taking cars to a scrapyard 10 years ago would usually get a few pounds for their old banger.

But now there are new laws on disposing environmentally-damaging substances such as oil, old tyres and anti freeze, and substances dangerous to health such as asbestos, which can sometimes be found in old cars.

It means breaking up cars is more expensive than it used to be, and breakers' yards often now charge a fee.

Another problem is that cars are getting more technologically sophisticated and harder for the cash-strapped amateur mechanic to keep on the road.

Mr Wellman said: "There was a time when an old car broke down and you might be able to get it going again by putting in a new set of points which don't cost very much. But now the electrics are more complicated and it probably needs an expensive new part. That's another reason why we are getting more abandoned cars."

He said dumped cars were not just an eyesore but also a magnet for criminals, who will use an abandoned car when they want to commit an offence.

They can also be danger to children.

"One of my street inspectors went out to see an abandoned car which had its windows smashed," said Mr Wellman. "When he looked closer there was a four-year-old child playing there among the battery acid and broken glass."

COUNCIL street inspectors have the power to tow away abandoned cars left on the street or on council land.

The process starts when street inspectors spot abandoned vehicles or when police or residents report them.

If the car is in a dangerous condition, for instance burnt out or with smashed windows, street inspectors will do their best to check it out within 24 hours. If it isn't a danger they will be out in 10 days or less.

The street inspectors ask around the neighbourhood to see if they can find the owner.

If they can't they put a notice on it saying they think it may be an abandoned car, and asking the owner to give them a call within a week.

Often someone comes forward before the week is up to claim the car, or the owner simply moves the car.

But if no-one comes forward and it's still there when inspectors re-visit a week later, they arrange for it to be towed away, and if they subsequently can't find out who owns the vehicle it gets crushed.

If the owner is eventually traced a #112 towing away fee and a #12 per day storage fee is charged. They must pay up even of the car is crushed.

The rules are different for cars dumped on private land such as pub car parks or land owned by housing associations. To get the car taken away the landowner must give written permission and pay a #60 fee.

Abandoned cars are taken to Rowleys Autos in Coronel Avenue, Rowleys Green, Coventry, where if not claimed, they get broken up for any useful parts and crushed.

General manager Barry Hinde said: "Most of the cars we get are only good enough for scrap. We get about one in 20 good enough to keep back but even then people rarely claim them."

Council street services manager John Wellman said: "People who've reported an abandoned car sometimes wonder why we don't take it away immediately. But there is a procedure we have to follow. We have to make sure the vehicle really is abandoned and not somebody's pride and joy."

* As part of the Keep Coventry Clean Campaign people are urged not to abandon their old

cars but to ask the council to take them away.

To boost the campaign Coventry City Council is offering a service taking away unwanted privately-owned cars at #30.

The owners must be able to prove the car is theirs and it must be a position that's easy for tow trucks to reach.

Call street services on 0500 834333.

* To report an abandoned car ring street services, same number as above, with details of exactly where the car is, the make, model, colour, registration number, and whether it is a public danger.